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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Tel Aviv, September 24
Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2009 6:47 pm
by lizzytysh
Dear Arlene ~
The footage from that link you've posted is phenomenal... beginning with Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye and ending with The Birkat Kohanim at 8.00... I love seeing the many, grateful faces in the audience. How moving for Leonard to be able to look out on that sea of beautifully-toned skin and speak his heart to them in person... and to know of all those outside who came anyway, and were able to hear his heart speak to them, as well.
Thank you for posting this priceless footage, Arlene.
Love,
Lizzy
Re: CONCERT REPORT: Tel Aviv, September 24
Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2009 7:17 pm
by sturgess66
Lizlogs wrote:lizzytysh wrote:.
Cohen ended the concert with the priestly blessing in (excellent) Hebrew. Being a descendant of the holy men of Israel (literally, that is what his name, Cohen, means) he has the power and the right to do this.
This blessing is one of the most beautiful ancient poems you will ever know.
I felt most blessed.
יְבָרֶכְךָ יהוה וְיִשְׁמְרֶךָ:
יָאֵר יהוה פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ וִיחֻנֶּךָּ:
יִשָּׂא יהוה פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ וְיָשֵׂם לְךָ שָׁלוֹם:
Here is my outrageously personal translation:
May the most holy bless you and protect you
May the most holy take a shine to you and grace you
May the most holy take a good look at you give you peace
Here is something more precise:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priestly_Blessing
I am wondering if this is something he has done before. I had the feeling it was a very special moment indeed.
adamintelaviv
Reading all the various reports, I have no reason to suspect that Leonard has ever used this particular Priestly Blessing. He gives a four-faceted priestly blessing at the end of each of his concerts; however, it seems that this one was especially appropriate for and hence given to all of you.
~ Lizzy
He gave this blessing at the end of his Belfast concert on 26th July, albeit in English.
Thanks Lizlogs - I was sure I recalled he had given this blessing in the past but I could not remember where or when. As you say "albeit in English" - but nevertheless - beautiful. I just went and looked and "112bluebell" captured it and put it on YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu1hTk8JbSQ
Re: CONCERT REPORT: Tel Aviv, September 24
Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2009 7:54 pm
by sharon.e
bridger15, thanks so much for posting MajorTom2oo1's YouTube link.
I've been clicking 'replay' over and over again - these minutes encapsulate the magic in the air, the singalong, the complete silence when not, Dino's soul piercing solo, the incredible intimacy, and mostly, the acknowledgment that the concert is coming to its end and the yearning it wouldn't.
And after the 'Blessing of the Priests', that brought me and many others to tears, we stood there, in front of a just been emptied stage, watching that curly haired girl with the fedora appear with the garbage can in hand, and we stood still, we didn't go, we knew the concert is over, yet we remained put, sharing a hidden hope that maybe, just maybe, we'll get one last extension, and only when the stadium's lights went on, we knew that it's time to go home.
I am using this post to share photo by a friend of mine, who was sitting way up in the balconies of the stadium, and captured the sea of green sticklights on camera from a terrific angle.
(Though it can't compete with the exquisite You Tube footage,I thought you might enjoy it too)
--Sharon
- Leonard Cohen in Israel, 24.9.09
Re: CONCERT REPORT: Tel Aviv, September 24
Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2009 8:44 pm
by goldstei
Sharon, can you provide the link or provide more specifics--by now there are so many it's very hard to find one without the link itself. Thanks!
Re: CONCERT REPORT: Tel Aviv, September 24
Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2009 8:47 pm
by jarkko
First photos by Hen Altof from Tel Aviv on my website at
http://cohen.1g.fi/kuvat/Ramat+Gan+Stad ... tof-19.jpg
Will create proper pages about Barcelona & Tel Aviv, but here is a beginning. The photo with all those green light sticks is amazing!
Jarkko
Re: CONCERT REPORT: Tel Aviv, September 24
Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2009 8:53 pm
by sharon.e
goldstei wrote:Sharon, can you provide the link or provide more specifics--by now there are so many it's very hard to find one without the link itself. Thanks!
With pleasure goldstei, here you go:
Link to: Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye + 'Blessing of the Priests' at end of concert
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6Y1x2y3qyg
(primary credit: bridger15/ MajorTom2oo1)
Re: CONCERT REPORT: Tel Aviv, September 24
Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2009 9:39 pm
by zodkavombie
To all you who have put all these wonderful posts on this. I has been wonderful reading various articles, accounts and watching your clips. Only one regret and that is that I was not there
Re: CONCERT REPORT: Tel Aviv, September 24
Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2009 9:47 pm
by goldstei
hey zodka (at least u r not a vodka-zombie!)
sounds like you were blessed to make barcelona!
of the 4 i've been 2, my favorite was the first, at hamilton, ON, when LC said at one point:
"Every artist dreams of a reception l like this. We won't forget it."
By now, after all these triumphs, he may have; but we won't!
Re: CONCERT REPORT: Tel Aviv, September 24
Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2009 12:35 am
by Carmen
For several days now I have eagerly read all the posts related to Barcelona and Tel Aviv concerts, the press articles, the photos, everything... Each of you has shared with us a fragment of a grandiose mosaic which, in a way, is meant to never end.
Barcelona was everyone's gift to Leonard, and Tel Aviv was Leonard's gift to the world. It would be hard to find someone else who always has the power to reconciliate, to move to tears, to fill hearts with joy, to give moments of happiness, moments of inner peace and moments of solidarity. He has the power of moving mountains with just one word; and he was blessed with the power of healing and blessing.
The final Tel Aviv blessing transcended religious borders, although it sprung from a religous-driven impulse; his raised palms reached each and every one of us.
So many words have been said, and it is difficult to say more; my heart is full and I still wake up with a song on my lips, as I have for the last few weeks, after Leonard's concert in Bucharest. Sometimes it's "Dance me..."; sometimes it's "Tower of Song" or some other. And each day starts with a smile that comes from the heart.
Thank you, dear Cohenites for your (our) never ending story. I feel blessed to be part of this.
Carmen
Re: CONCERT REPORT: Tel Aviv, September 24
Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2009 1:13 am
by Lizlogs
adamintelaviv wrote:Hi Lizzy,
... You probably know that these are the Jewish high holy days, days of awe, "terrible" days. Time of the decision, "Who by fire." To give the Numbers 6:24-26 blessing in Israel, in Hebrew and just before the day of atonement is a once in a lifetime thing for all concerned.
As you can see, the blessing is hard to translate. Working up the nerve to ask for one thing more I would wish for Cohen's own translation.
From the YouTube clip posted by Lizzytish of the end of the Belfast concert, he said:
"May the Lord bless you and keep you
May the Lord make his light to shine upon you
May the Lord incline his countenance upon you and grant you Peace."
Re: CONCERT REPORT: Tel Aviv, September 24
Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2009 3:14 am
by Patrycja
Thank you for posting these, I enjoyed them very much!
Re: CONCERT REPORT: Tel Aviv, September 24
Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2009 3:15 am
by Patrycja
These are great, thank you! #17 is my favourite
Re: CONCERT REPORT: Tel Aviv, September 24
Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2009 3:21 am
by goldstei
Leonard (understandly) looks awfully exhausted in the last one. The Webbs are radiant in #12.
Re: CONCERT REPORT: Tel Aviv, September 24
Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2009 3:24 am
by Patrycja
bridger15 wrote:9 minute youtube video by MajorTom2oo1 (Alon Elhanani) includes:
-No Way To Say Goodbye
-Whither Thou Goest
-Leonard's final words 7.00
-The Birkat Kohanim 8.00
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6Y1x2y3qyg
This was profoundly moving, thanks so much for posting it. I've never actually witnessed the Birkat Kohanim (does it still count if one's not actually present or watching at the other end of the world? I feel blessed nevertheless).
p.s. apologies for the triple post :bagoverhead:. If someone could please point the way to responding to several quotes within one response I'd appreciate it.
Re: CONCERT REPORT: Tel Aviv, September 24
Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2009 3:30 am
by sirius
Leonard Cohen's blessed summer finale
By BEN JACOBSON
THE JERUSALEM POST
Sep. 26, 2009
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite? ... 2FShowFull
Israel's summer season of international concerts came to a finale on Thursday night at a sold-out performance in Ramat Gan's National Stadium.
TV crews were clamoring to interview tour management, activists and civil servants were offering their own spins on pop-inspired peace-making, and a special paparazzi area had been established to enable photographers to record the arrivals of local celebrities.
With the buzz-meter this far off the charts, it was almost as if Madonna hadn't performed nearby just three weeks ago. And who was all this pop circus fuss about? Leonard Cohen: an elderly folk singer who honed his chops in the coffee houses of Greenwich Village and Montreal; an ex-monk of a Californian Zen order; the "grocer of despair" of Seventies singer-songwriters; the man who by the mid-Eighties was considered by Columbia Records' then-honcho Walter Yetnikoff to be too much of a has-been to warrant the distribution of his new recordings in the United States.
Cohen is hardly MTV material. His music is far more suited to candle-lit lonely nights than soccer stadiums, and he is known for referring to his "career" with tongue always in cheek, telling the BBC in 1994 that he was grateful for "the enormous luck I've had in being able to make a living."
But he's been on a world tour now for about a year and a half - a tour that isn't just maintaining momentum, but is instead getting bigger and bigger. He might have played New York's Beacon Theater this past winter, but when he returns to Manhattan next month, he'll pack Madison Square Garden.
Approximately 50,000 tickets were sold for Thursday's Ramat Gan show in less than one day, making for Cohen's largest seated audience so far this year, a fitting finale to the summer European leg of his journey. Cohen's last gig in Israel was over 20 years ago, and before that, when he landed in the fall of 1973 to support IDF troops with a series of impromptu concerts, he told the press that he was also here "to make my atonement."
Thursday's show had a similar agenda. Cohen had collapsed on stage mid-concert last week, on Rosh Hashanah eve, in eastern Spain, but he wowed a Barcelona crowd three days later with a rousing show on his 75th birthday, blessing the audience, "May your life be sweet as apples dipped in honey."
The liturgical, spiritual, introspective and biblical traits of Cohen's repertoire suited the pre-Yom Kippur timing of Thursday's performance well, with far too many poignant and resonant moments to enumerate here.
Descended from members of Judaism's priestly caste, Cohen concluded the concert by raising his hands and reciting the traditional Priestly Blessing, one of the anchors of the High Holy Day services in synagogues around the world.
One concert-goer was overheard smilingly and favorably comparing the experience to having been through Yom Kippur's arduous if elating prayer services, while others brought the liturgical link to more literal levels, taking the opportunity to convene for an Aravit prayer minyan in the intermission between the show's two halves.
During that 1973 visit to Israel and the Sinai battlefront, legend has it that Cohen was plagued with feelings of guilt when he caught himself being relieved to learn that a convoy of bloody bodies that passed him one day were Egyptians and not Israelis. Thursday's concert was given the moniker "Concert for Reconciliation, Tolerance and Peace," and it served as the launch party for a peace-themed fund, which was established to allow Cohen to channel all of the profits from the concert, estimated at $2 million, towards reconciliation initiatives. Approximately 200 bereaved Israeli and Palestinian families were welcomed to the performance as guests of the fund. Cohen more than once commended them from the stage, championing a "holy, holy, holy response to human suffering" while making it clear that he is not so naïve as to think that his songs or dollars would instantly usher in the age of peace. Instead, he urged us to open our hearts and "ring the bells that still can ring."
THE CONCERT lasted in all for close to three and a half hours, and the crowd, which was comprised of fans with a wide range of dedication levels, transfixed and mesmerized for most of the duration. Favorites going back to Cohen's 1967 studio debut, Songs of…, were represented heavily, including a faithfully free-meter "Suzanne" and an appropriately meandering "So Long, Marianne."
The setlist, which has remained relatively static since the spring of 2008, also included several mid-career gems like "Famous Blue Raincoat," "Lover Lover Lover," "Chelsea Hotel #2," "Take This Waltz" and "Hallelujah," the latter inspiring a collective chant of exaltation, tens of thousands strong. The show wasn't devoid of duds ("Ain't No Cure For Love" should never have earned live show staple status, and 2001's "Boogie Street" is much stronger as verses on a page than it is as a stab at crooner-funk), but when backing vocalists Charley and Hattie Webb took over lead duties for a stripped-down version of "If It Be Your Will," the stadium fell into a thick, appreciative silence. Overall, the band was a classy, strong and tight outfit, especially during the exceptionally intense second half. It's true that nowadays Leonard Cohen regularly takes off his fedora and gives his thanks to sizeable crowds for having shared a memorable evening with him, but it's hard, when actually watching him do it, to question his sincerity.
The fact that standout shows have become almost commonplace events for Cohen on this tour does not diminish from their power. As Lou Reed put it last year when inducting Cohen into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, "We're so lucky to be alive at the same time Leonard Cohen is." And with so much reverberating context of atonement, homecoming and post-nationalist opening of the heart, there were many moments when Thursday's concert felt truly outstanding even by Cohen's own recent high standards - an event of genuinely meaningful significance.
